1At the end of every seven years, cancel all debts.
2This is how it is to be done: every creditor shall cancel any loan he has made to a fellow Israelite. He must not demand payment from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.
3You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your Israelite brother owes you.
4There need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,
5if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
6For the LORD your God will bless you as he promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations, but none will rule over you.
7If anyone among you is poor — one of your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you — do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them.
8Instead, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need.
9Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: 'The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,' so that you do not show ill will toward your needy neighbor and give nothing. If you do and they cry to the LORD against you, you will be found guilty of sin.
10Give generously and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
11There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
12If any of your people — Israelite men or women — sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must set them free.
13And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed.
14Supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Give to them as the LORD your God has blessed you.
15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I am giving you this command today.
16But if your servant says, 'I don't want to leave you,' because he loves you and your household and is well off with you,
17then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. He will then be your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.
18Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service to you these six years has been worth twice the wages of a hired worker. And the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.
19Set apart for the LORD your God every firstborn male from your herd and flock. Do not put the firstborn of your oxen to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.
20Each year you and your household are to eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose.
21If an animal has a defect — is lame or blind or has any serious blemish — you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
22You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer.
23But you must not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water.